[The actors had a nutritionist but were deliberately losing weight]. “The most important thing was to be ready for them and at the same time to imbue this story with a cinematic eye,” said Luque. “It's a very fine line between realism and the poetry of cinema.
How much weight did actors lose for Society of the Snow?
From October 2021 to early 2022 (when filming began), the doctors focused on individualized nutritional plans for the actors to gain muscle and weight (between three and eight kilos). Meanwhile, from February to May 2022, the key was to achieve extreme weight loss (between 20 and 30 kilos).
The making of Society Of The Snow was “a journey”, taking in a casting call that required sifting through more than 2,000 responses, a seven-week rehearsal period during which the actors connected with their real-life counterparts (or the families of the deceased character they were playing), and 140 days of production ...
“It was easy, in a way, for us,” Pedro notes, “because we had a lot of footage of real snow in the same mountain, so we could take some parts to produce the same snow in CG.” Cold breaths were also inserted into 200 shots.
“One of our main decisions was to go for authenticity and realism,” says Bayona. That meant, rather than using sets, shooting in difficult conditions high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Granada. They also filmed scenes in the Andes and Chile.
The true survival story behind the Oscar-nominated film "Society of the Snow" is almost unbelievable: After a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team and its loved ones crashed in the Andes Mountains in 1972, 16 people managed to survive for 72 days, surrounded by snow and ice.
What do the survivors think of Society of the Snow?
The survivors were so happy with how the movie portrayed their story that they even made small cameos. The movie has some of the most anxiety-inducing scenes I have ever watched, with the plane crash scene making you feel as if you were there with the incredible sound and directing.
A major omission of the survivors' story in Society of the Snow is the amount of public backlash they originally got once they came clean about their method of survival out in the Andes.
Which is more accurate, Alive or Society of the Snow?
Society of the Snow tells a more authentic and dignified story of the Andes plane crash survivors compared to the Hollywoodized version in Alive. The movie portrays the trauma and suffering of the survivors in a tangible way, making their experiences feel more genuine and relatable.
Are any of the survivors of Society of snow still Alive?
Since they were very young when the accident happened, almost all sixteen of them are still alive — Javier Methol and José Luis "Coche" Inciarte died in 2015 and 2023, respectively. The survivors met on October 13, 2022, to pay tribute to the victims 50 years after the crash.
Two of the survivors walked through the mountains in search of help for 10 days without anything that even resembled climbing equipment. They travelled 60 km to finally reach the valleys of Chile where a mule driver spotted them on the other side of a river and was able to begin the rescue.
J.A. Bayona on His 10-Year Journey to Bring 'Society of the Snow' to the Screen. The helmer's first Spanish-language film in 17 years, which has been short-listed in four Oscar categories, including best international film, tells the true-life tale of the Uruguayan Andes flight disaster in 1972.
Today, in 2024, only 14 of the 16 survivors are alive. Javier Methol passed away in 2015 due to cancer, surviving almost 43 years after the crash. He was 36 at the time of the accident, the oldest of the survivors. José Luis “Coche” Inciarte, died in 2023, also of cancer.
How much weight did Tom Hanks lose while filming Philadelphia?
Hanks previously gained 30 pounds for the role of Jimmy Dugan in 1992's "A League of Their Own" and subsequently lost 26 pounds to play AIDS-stricken Andrew Beckett in "Philadelphia."
Where are the people from Society of the Snow now?
Of the sixteen original survivors depicted in Society of the Snow, fourteen are still alive today and were directly involved in the development of the film. Many of the survivors seen in Society of the Snow went on to become authors and motivational speakers.
How long was the rugby team stranded in the Andes?
The charter flight was carrying the team to a match in Santiago, the Chilean capital. Twenty-nine people died, but 16 managed to survive 72 days under the most precarious conditions, without food, adequate shelter, or medical supplies for the injured.
In Alive, the survivors stranded in the Andes are played by Hollywood stars like Ethan Hawke (Leave the World Behind) and Josh Hamilton, but all of the same details are there, and it manages to be pretty harrowing in its own right.
The now released film Society of the Snow, based on the real-life 1970s Andes plane crash, has sparked controversy after being labelled a "cannibal movie" and "gorefest" by a prominent publication. Fans took to social media, expressing outrage and accusing the publication of sensationalizing the tragic event.
Why didn't they make a fire in Society of the Snow?
The place where the plane crashed was not strategically visible, so it would have been pointless to try to make a fire. Furthermore, they didn't have enough flammable objects to cause such a big fire, which is why the lighter was used for cigarettes but never a signal fire.
All the sources claim they hiked 60 km in ten days until they encountered Sergio Catalan at the confluence of Rio del Azufre and Rio del Portillo rivers.
What happened to the rugby team that crashed in the Andes?
Uruguayan Air Force flight 571, flight of an airplane charted by a Uruguayan amateur rugby team that crashed in the Andes Mountains in Argentina on October 13, 1972, the wreckage of which was not located for more than two months. Of the 45 people aboard the plane, only 16 survived the ordeal.
Society of the Snow offers the best depiction of the horrors the survivors faced and gives the most respect to the 29 people who died in the crash and the following months.
However, a little over an hour into the flight, the pilot misjudged his location and—with clearance from air traffic control—began to descend before the plane had made it out of the Andes. Unable to clear the ridgeline, it struck a mountain, losing both wings and its tail on impact.
